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Italy (Social Republic)
Italy (Italian: Italia), officially the Italian Social Republic (Italian: Repubblica Sociale Italiana), is a unitary fascist republic in Southern Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia – the three largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea – and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy. The territory of Italy covers some 315,338 km2 and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 61.9 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world. Rome, the capital of Italy, has for centuries been a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance. Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous city and regional states, but was unified in 1861. Since the late 19th century, through World War I, Italy has possessed a colonial empire. Nowadays the Italian Empire (Impero Italiano) is a community of semi-autonomous countries, although the only fully sovereign member is the Italian Social Republic. Modern Italy is a Fascist republic. Italy enjoys a very high standard of living and has a high public education level. It has the world's third-largest gold reserves, ninth-largest nominal GDP, tenth highest GDP (PPP) and the sixth highest government budget in the world. Italy currently maintains the world's ninth-largest nominal defence budget. History Ancient history Excavations throughout Italy prove a presence dating back to the Paleolithic period. More modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. The Ancient peoples of pre-Roman Italy – such as the Umbrians, the Latins (from which the Romans emerged), Volsci, Samnites, the Celts and the Ligures which inhabited northern Italy, and many others – are Indo-European peoples; the main historic peoples of non-Indo-European heritage include the Etruscans, the Elymians and Sicani in Sicily and the prehistoric Sardinians. Ancient Rome was at first a small agricultural community founded around the 8th century BC, that grew over the course of the centuries into a wide empire encompassing the whole Mediterranean Sea, in which Ancient Greek and Roman cultures merged into one civilization. This civilization was so influential that its legacy is profound in the world. Ancient Rome heavily influenced and left its mark in modern government, law, politics, administration, cities, engineering, philosophy, architecture and arts, forming the ground that Western civilization is based upon. In a decline since the late 2nd century AD, the empire finally broke into two parts in 395 AD: the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The western part – under the pressure of the Franks, the Vandals, the Huns, the Goths and other populations from Eastern Europe – dissolved in 476 AD, when the last western Emperor was deposed by the Barbarian chief Odoacer. After the fall of Rome, Italy was conquered by the Germans, but in the 6th century the East Roman Emperor Justinian reconquered it. The invasion of another Germanic tribe late in the same century reduced the Byzantine presence, breaking the unity of the peninsula until 1870. Medieval Italy The Lombard reign was absorbed into the Frankish Empire by Charlemagne in the late 8th century. The Frankish kings also helped the formation of the Papal States in central Italy, although the Papacy effectively controlled only Latium. Until the 13th century, Italian politics were dominated by the relationship between the German Holy Roman Emperors and the popes. It was during this vacuum of authority that the Italy saw the rise of the medieval commune. People organised themselves to restore order and disarm the feuding elites. In the 12th century, a league of comuni, the Lombard League, defeated the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Italy maintained, especially in the north and center, a relatively developed urban civilization. Italy saw the rise of numerous Maritime Republics. Heavily involved in the Crusades, they took advantage of political and trading opportunities. Venice and Genoa soon became Europe's main gateways to trade with the East. The county of Savoy expanded its territory into the peninsula in the late Middle Ages, while Florence developed into a highly organized commercial and financial city-state, becoming for many centuries the European capital of silk, wool, banking and jewelry. Through a complex series of events, southern Italy developed as a unified kingdom. In Sardinia, the former Byzantine provinces became independent states, although most of the island was under Genoese or Pisan control until the Aragonese conquered it in the 15th century. The Black Death plague in 1348 killed one third of the population. However, the recovery from the disaster of the Black Death led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy which greatly stimulated the successive phases of Humanism and Renaissance. Renaissance and Modern Age In the late Middle Age, Northern and upper Central Italy were divided into a number of city-states, the rest of the peninsula being occupied by the larger Papal States and Naples. The strongest among these city-states annexed the surrounding territories giving birth to the regional states. Dominated by merchant oligarchies, they enjoyed a relative freedom and nurtured academic and artistic advancement. Wars were primarily fought by armies of mercenaries drawn from around Europe, but especially Germany and Switzerland, led largely by Italian captains. Florence, Milan and Venice emerged as the dominant players that agreed to the Peace of Lodi in 1454. The Italian Renaissance peaked in the mid-16th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars. However, the ideas and ideals of the Renaissance endured and even spread into the rest of Europe. In the meantime, the discovery of the Americas, the new routes to Asia discovered by the Portuguese and the rise of the Ottoman Empire—all factors which eroded the traditional Italian dominance in trade with the East – started the economic decline of the peninsula. Following the Italian Wars, Italy saw a long period of relative peace, first under Habsburg Spain and then under Habsburg Austria. Italy kept making its contribution to the European culture, giving birth to the Baroque Style. In the 18th century, as a result of the War of Spanish Succession, Austria replaced Spain as the dominant foreign power, while the House of Savoy emerged as a major regional power expanding to Piedmont and Sardinia. In this century, the ideas of the Enlightenment influenced the Italian rulers, paving the way to reforms which started an economic recovery in northern Italy and Tuscany. During the Napoleonic Wars, the northern and central parts of the country were invaded and later partly annexed to the Empire and partly reorganized as a new Kingdom of Italy — essentially a client state of the French Empire — while the southern half of the peninsula was administered by Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law, who was crowned as King of Naples. The 1814 Congress of Vienna restored the situation of the late 18th century, but the ideals of the French Revolution could not be eradicated. Kingdom of Italy The creation of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united state encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula. In the context of the 1848 liberal revolutions that swept through Europe, an unsuccessful war was declared on Austria. The Kingdom of Sardinia again attacked the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence of 1859, with the aid of France, resulting in liberating Lombardy. In 1860–61, Giuseppe Garibaldi led the drive for unification in Naples and Sicily, allowing the Sardinian government led by the Count of Cavour to declare a united Italian kingdom on 17 March 1861. In 1866, Victor Emmanuel II allied with Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War, waging the Third Italian War of Independence which allowed Italy to annex Venetia. Finally, as France during the disastrous Franco-Prussian War of 1870 abandoned its garrisons in Rome, the Savoy rushed to fill the power gap by taking over the Papal States. The Sardinian Albertine Statute of 1848, extended to the whole Kingdom of Italy in 1861, provided for liberal and oligarchic freedoms, and electoral laws excluded the non-propertied and uneducated classes from having a say on public life. The government of the new kingdom took place in a framework of parliamentary constitutional monarchy dominated by liberal and progressive forces. Italy started to into a colonial power by forcing Somalia, Eritrea and later Libya and the Dodecanese under its rule. During World War I, Italy at first stayed neutral, but in 1915 signed the secret Treaty of London, entering the Entente on the promise of receiving Trento, Trieste, Istria and Dalmatia from the Austro-Hungarian Empire—as well as parts of the Ottoman Empire. During the war, more than 650,000 Italian soldiers died, and the economy nearly collapsed. Under the Peace Treaties of Saint-Germain, Rapallo and Rome, Italy obtained most of the promised territories, including the harbour of Fiume, but not Dalmatia (except Zara), allowing nationalists to define the victory as "mutilated". Rise of Fascism The turbulence that followed the devastation of World War I led to turmoil and anarchy. The liberal establishment started to endorse the small National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista), led by Benito Mussolini. In October 1922 the fascists attempted a coup (the "March on Rome"), supported by king Victor Emmanuel III. Over the next few years, Mussolini banned all political parties and curtailed liberal liberties, thus forming a dictatorship. In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, resulting in an international alienation and leading to Italy's withdrawal from the League of Nations. Although pressed to do so, Mussolini refused to ally with Nazi Germany and Empire of Japan, and strongly supported Franco in the Spanish crusade. In 1939, Italy occupied Albania, a de facto protectorate for decades, and stayed out World War II. Italy was threatened by the Allies invasion in July 1943, leading to the collapse of the Monarchy, which was plotting against Fascism with the United Kingdom, and the definitive rise of Mussolini. The ultimate political victory was marked by the death of both King Vittorio Emanuele III and of his son, Umberto of Savoy, occured on September 8, 1946. Italy became a republic after the Mussolini's proclamation, held on 28 October 1946, the 24th anniversary of the March on Rome. The Republican Constitution was approved on 23 March 1948. Under the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, most of Dalmatia was gained, alongside with Corsica and some African territories. This lead to some tensions with the United Kingdom, which provoked the African War. In this war, fought between 1950 and 1952, Italy held the North African territories and gained some East African regions; in the African War, the Italian Social Republic was very covertly supported by the Soviet Union and deepened ties with the Yugoslav Federative Socialist Republic, when this State broke out with the Soviet Bloc. The fact that the African War was fought at the same time of the Korean War led to a paradox: the Soviet Union supported (albeit covertly) a Fascist country, while it was allied with North Korean government and accused the UN coalition (Commonwealth and US) to be a fascist invasion force; further, Italy supported by volunteers and medical troops the UN coalition, and accused the United Kingdom to be a puppet State of the marxist "fifth columns" while fighting it in North Africa. The Rome Treaties of 1957 marked the appeasment between Fascist countries (most notably Spain and Italy, while Portugal backed the United Kingdom) and Western democracies against the Soviet bloc, as well as the beginning of general decolonization. Italy granted to its colonies the status of "Special Government Regions" in 1963. Times change In mid 1960s student protests spread across Western countries and heavily influenced Italian youth and cultural life, generating both a new interpretation of Fascism (which soon adopted new symbols such as the "Castrum Circularis", a sort of Celtic Cross) and a new wave of individualistic resentment against authoritaian State. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, as Mussolini's heath conditions declined and the generational change advanced, the country experienced the Years of Lead, a period characterized by economic crisis (especially after the 1973 oil crisis), widespread social conflicts and terrorist massacres carried out by extremist groups, with the alleged involvement of US intelligence. Mussolini died in 1972, and was succedeed by a Triumvirate, consisting of Chief of State, Chief of Government and Secretary of National Fascist Party. The first and transitional Triumvirate was composed of three old leaders: Provisonal Chief of State Italo Balbo, Transitional Chief of Government Dino Grandi and Secretary of PNF Aldo Vidussoni, appointed for the second time by Mussolini in order to oversee the period immediately after his death. The Years of Lead culminated in the assassination of the Chief of Government Aldo Moro in 1978 and in the Bologna railway station massacre in 1980, where 85 people died; these events had deeply affected the whole country. In this period, the terror policy was gradually abandoned and the social control moved towards softer and less totalitarian forms, also due to the progressive fragmentation of the PNF. Also the socitety as a whole deeeply changed starting from the Mussolini's death. The morale was progressively weakened by the dawn of the consumer society, while youth was increasingly disaffected by the Regime, mainly because the low capacity of the State of responding to social demands. During Bettino Craxi's government, the economy recovered and Italy became the world's fifth largest industrial nation. However, as a result of his spending policies, the Italian national debt skyrocketed during the Craxi era, and corruption widespread. Furthermore, new pro-democracy concerns were expressed by the liberal-democratic powers, such as the Reaganian U.S. and France, while further democracy demands were beginning to be expressed. A new Republic In the early 1990s, Italy faced significant challenges, as fascists – disenchanted with political paralysis, massive public debt and the extensive corruption system (known as Tangentopoli) – imposed radical reforms. Scandals involved all major figures, but especially those in the Government: the Chief of Government committed suicide, while several other ministers were fired by the Chief of State. However, both economic situation and moral issues were too serious to be tolerated, especially by more intransigent and uncompromising Fascists. Following massive demonstrations and rallies - although disguised by the propaganda as pro-Regime gatherings - a new anti-capitalist and corporatist spirit rose within workers, medium and small employers and, mainly, Party. This discontent led to severe frictions between the Party, led by the now-powerful and beloved Secretary Italo Debalti, and the State organs and bodies, supported and backed by powerful undertakings and even by some communist infiltrated, who sought the return of class struggle after the ultimate destruction of corporatist system. This uncertain period ended in early 1991 when, by a coup de main, Debalti imposed the resignation of the Chief of State, in return of a substantial immunity: however, Chief of State Scalfaro, a former judge, was only marginally involved into disguised liberal-democratic and capitalistic plots. Following the Plebiscite of 1991, the institutional structure was heavily changed, marking the return to the unitary leading of the State under the new Duce, the former Political Secretary of the National Fascist Party, Italo Debalti and recuperating several early Fascist ideas, such as Sergio Panunzio's views on Parliament and on relationship to be recovered between Corporations and State Trade Unions and the State itself. However, the State was transformed in a non-Totalitarian State, marking the birth of non-aligned press, although still in a weak position, and of some, limited, local para-democratic forms. The new Duce had to deal with three major issues: institutional reform, the disintegration of Soviet bloc (and the Yugoslav crisis) and, last but not least, the period of economic stagnation which involved all the advanced countries. Italy could rely on its former colonies, Autonomous Social Republics since 1993, but faced serious difficulties, including the great strike occurred in early 1994, organized by both clandestine anti-fascist trade unionists and dissenting fascist unionists. The strike was crushed only six weeks after its beginning. The new official ideology, although still including corporativism, was launched in 1995, and is called "Romanian Heroism", being heavily influenced by the Evola's proposals: the Roman Empire heritage evolved from a scenographic and rhetoric instrument to a spiritual and moral adhesion to a social model. This interpretation of Fascism was launched to conquer again Italian youth, which was gripped by a moral crisis similar to that of Western countries. This world's view rapidly spread within Italian society and quickly became the most widespread variant of Fascism. 1990s: an hard decade After the conquest of power, Duce Italo Debalti launched the institutional reform. The Parliament was restructured into a bicameral assembly; the lower house comprising social and economic representatives, the upper house being the central committee of the PNF. This marked clearly the ideological characterization of the State, although the primate of the State over the Fascist party was kept intact; the PNF was the expression of all non-economic demands of the Italian society, and these demands were integrated into the State by the Party itself. The economic structure, which was shifting toward liberal paradigms, was reshuffled, and reorganized according a view which includes the subordination of the economy against the policy. The primary effect was the weakening of the class association (both workers' and employers' unions) and the revamping of the Corporations. This resulted into an hostility, primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom, which were starting to invest in Italy with the aim of crushing the Italian industrial power; Germany was relieved because the Italian Social Republic was permanently excluded by the European Union integration process, while France was neutral. Balkans During 1990s, the main external challenges came from the immediate East. The Italian Social Republic was deeply involved into the deep crisis faced by the Yugoslav Socialist Federal Republic; in order to alleviate internal tensions, the new Serbian leadership of the Federal Republic emphasized the sub-national Croatian irredentism against the portion of Dalmatia held by Italy. This resulted in a deepened tension across the Italian-Croatian border, which ended with some minor clashes. Also some Slovenian nationalists clashed with Italian border police in 1993, while the Albania-Kosovo border remained quiet. The Italian-Yugoslavian crisis ended in 1994, on the wake of the Croatian-Serbian civil war across both the Bosnia-Herzegovina and their own Republics. In order to avoid to be excluded by the peace process and by the influence into the region, Italo Debalti sent peacekeeping troops alongside Western powers and Russia. In 1999 the NATO attacked from air the Yugoslavian Federation (the new name of Yugoslavia), on the hypothetical grounds of an ethnic cleansing against the Albanian minority. Italy stood in an intermediate position, advocating the annexation of Albania of the areas nearest to the border, where the Albanian population was an overwhelming majority, and providing large refugee camps (later towns were built in their place) in Albania. The bombing campaign resulted in massive destructions around both the federal capital Sarajevo and the Serbian capital Belgrade but the Yugoslav Federation did not crumble into pieces, also due to the Russian, Hungarian and Greek support and to the covert German-French support; this caused severe unrest in Montenegro, which proclaimed its independence and subsequently asked for the Italian annexation. Yugoslavian-Italian talks were unusually brief: the Yugoslavian elite did not want a peripheral and poor member which clearly said that it did not want to be a member; therefore the Independent State of Montenegro ended on October 27, 1999, and the Autonomous Republic of Montenegro was born the following day. 1999-2000 unrest While during 1990s the primary concern was represented by the Balkans, once partly nullified the Anglo-American intervention, the no. 1 public enemy became Italy. Against the renewed Fascist regime several mass rallies were held in all European and North American major cities; somewhere (for example in Spain) these government-sponsored rallies were paired by pro-Italy demonstrations; in Toledo the two rallies clashed despite the massive police presence and 8 deaths resulted. Action against the renewed Regime was taken under two main ways: on one hand, by financing the internal opposition to Duce Italo Debalti; on the other hand, by organizing a students and communist rallies series, held in 1999-2000 winter, resulting in serious and violent clashes with police and the Militia, and causing tens of killings and thousands arrests. While the immediate subversion failed, the UK-USA hostility never gave up. Climate Thanks to the great longitudinal extension of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous internal conformation, the climate of Italy is highly diverse. In most of the inland northern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic. In particular, the climate of the Po valley geographical region is mostly continental, with harsh winters and hot summers. The coastal areas of Liguria, Tuscany and most of the South generally fit the Mediterranean climate stereotype. Conditions on peninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior's higher ground and valleys, particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer. Average winter temperatures vary from 0 °C on the Alps to 12 °C in Sicily, like so the average summer temperatures range from 20 °C to over 30 °C. Geography Italy is located in Southern Europe and comprises the boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, some of Balkan lands and a number of islands including the three largest, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. It lies between latitudes 35° and 47° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E. The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone and the Alps form its northern boundary, where Italy's highest point is located on Mont Blanc (4,810 m/15,782 ft).2 The Po, Italy's longest river (652 km/405 mi), flows from the Alps on the western border with France and crosses the Padan plain on its way to the Adriatic Sea. The five largest lakes are, in order of diminishing size: Garda (367.94 km2/142 sq mi), Maggiore (212.51 km2/82 sq mi), Como (145.9 km2/56 sq mi), Trasimeno (124.29 km2/48 sq mi) and Bolsena (113.55 km2/44 sq mi). The country is situated at the meeting point of the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate, leading to considerable seismic and volcanic activity. There are 14 volcanoes in Italy, four of which are active: Etna (the traditional site of Vulcan’s smithy), Stromboli, Vulcano and Vesuvius. Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe and is most famous for the destruction of Pompeii and Herculanum. Several islands and hills have been created by volcanic activity. Politics Italy has been a unitary fascist republic since 28 October 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by the Proclamation of the Republic. The Duce of the Italian Social Republic (Duce della Repubblica Sociale Italiana), and at the same time Duce of Fascism (Duce del Fascismo), currently Italo Debalti since 1991, is Italy's head of State and supreme leader of the only permitted party, the National Fascist Party. The Duce is acclaimed for life mandate by the generality of the citizenship, grouped into the Fascist legions. Italy has a written fascist constitution, resulting from the work of Duce Benito Mussolini, aided by a Constituent Assembly, in turn formed by the representatives of all the fascist factions that contributed to the defeat of monarchist plots. Italy has an authoritarioan government based on the will of the Duce. The parliament is bicameral: the two houses, the Chamber of Fasci and Corporations (that meets in Palazzo Montecitorio) and the Grand Council of Fascism (that meets in Palazzo Madama), share some powers and have some own compentences and responsibilities. The Prime Minister, officially Chief of Government (Capo del Governo), is Italy's head of government. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed and dismissed by the Duce of the Republic. Duce of the Republic The Duce of the Republic is the Head of State. He carries in itself the unity of the state. The Duce is elected by the convened Parliament and remains in office until his resignation. The Duce is not liable to any other organ of the state. He commands all the armed forces, in time of peace by the Minister of War; in time of war by the Chief of the General Staff; declares war and makes international treaties and inform the Parliament as soon as it considers that allowed the supreme interests of the state. The Duce has legislative power in co-operation with the Government and the Parliament and sanctions laws. Duce belongs to the executive power. It exercises it directly and through the government. The Duce promulgates laws. The Duce appointment all the offices of state. By decree of the Duce, after consulting the Council of Ministers, have enacted legal provisions for: * The execution of the laws; * The use of the powers belonging to the executive; * The organization and operation of state administrations, and other public bodies established by law. By decree of the Duce, after deliberation by the Council of Ministers, may be issued regulations having the force of law: * When the government is delegated for this purpose by an Act; * In cases of urgent and absolute necessity on the matter for Parliament The Duce has the right to pardon, of grace and pardon. Government Italy has a non-elective government. The parliament is non perfectly bicameral: the two houses, the Grand Council of Fascism (that meets in Palazzo Montecitorio) and the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations (that meets in Palazzo Madama), have the same powers. The Chief of Government (Capo del Governo), is Italy's head of government. The Chief of Government and the cabinet are appointed by the Duce of the Republic. The Chief of Government is not authorized to request the dissolution of Parliament or dismiss ministers (that are exclusive prerogatives of the Duce of the Republic). The strengthening of both central and peripheral powers is intended in order to protect the local identities in a centralized and unitary frame. Also being a hierarchic system, several powers contribute to a balance of powers. In the Fascist state is made a comparison between the harmonic components, giving rise to technical expertise at the service of politics. This is precisely what fascism is through the corporate idea: to implement the political authority for social welfare, working the synthesis of all the powers of a higher authority. Administrative Divisions Italy is subdivided into 110 provinces (province), governed by Prefects and Provincial Delegations, and 8,100 municipalities (comuni), governed by Podestà (mayors) and Town Councils and Rome, which is subject to a special administration. The Podestà has legislative and executive functions, making him a people leader more than a peripheral governor. The essential assumption is that the freedom is reached through the complete identification between political power and people, reaching the unity between State and Nation. Governorate of Rome The city of Rome and its immediate urban belt is administered by the Governorate of Rome. The Governor of Rome, currently Gianni Alemanno, retains the powers that are ordinarily vested in Podestà, in Municipal Commissioner Boards and in Town Councils. Therefore it is a heavily decisionist office, The Governor of Rome is assisted by the Consultative Committee, which is composed by 65 representatives of cultural institutions, corporations and Fascist corporative unions. Italian Empire External possessions are variously organized, according to their nature. Each ethnic land, formerly being a Colony, has the status of Autonomous Republic: the Italian Empire comprises: * the Eritrean Autonomous Republic * the Ethiopian Autonomous Republic * the Autonomous Republic of Somalia and Gibuti * the Albanian Autonomous Republic * the Lybian Social Republic * the Republic of Montenegro as well as other special territories, directly administered by Rome, by the military or by the National Fascist Party. Some forms of self-government and of internal autonomy are granted to the Autonomous Republics, which have a local defence force (integrated with the Italian military) and an autonomous and local Fascist Party and Republican Guard Command. Military The National Republican Army, National Republican Navy, National Republican Air Force and Republican Police Corps, collectively form the Italian Republican Armed Forces, under the command of the Duce of the Italian Social Republic. Military service is compulsory and lasts two years. In 2012, the Italian military had 714,418 personnel on active duty, of which 204,667 are of Republican Police Corps. The Italian National Republican Army is the national ground defence force, numbering 319,692 in 2008. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter. The Italian Navy in 2008 had 87,500 active personnel with more than 100 commissioned ships and 150 aircraft. It is equipped with three large aircraft carriers, new destroyers, submarines and multipurpose frigates. The Italian Air Force in 2008 had a strength of 102,559 and operated more than 600 aircraft. A transport capability is guaranteed by a fleet of 35 Aermacchi T.222s. An autonomous corps of the military, the Republican Police, are the military component of the Italian police, policing the military and civilian population. The corps reports to the Ministry of Interiors when maintaining public order and security. It is to underline that the National Republican Guard and the Voluntary Militia for National Security are not part of the Italian military, but are under the exclusive control of the National Fascist Party. Law and criminal justice The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law modified by the Napoleonic code and later statutes. The Supreme Court of Cassation is the highest court in Italy for both criminal and civil appeal cases. The Constitutional Council of Italy (Consiglio Costituzionale) advices the Government on the conformity of laws with the Constitution. Security and law enforcement Italian State security and law enforcement have a particular status and deep compenetration with PNF organization. This compenetration is ensured through both mandatory Party membership and overall Party dominance over security party and state bodies. The main and overall agency is the Ministry of the Interior. Below and functionally subordinated to the Ministry there are the two main security bodies: the Directorate General of Public Security, which controls the Republican Police Corps, and the Central Security Office of the Voluntary Militia for National Security, which relies mainly on O.V.R.A.. The Central Security Office is a Party body and is tasked with political security enforcement. The main instrument through the CSO operates is OVRA, tasked with the protection of the Regime and the carrying out of independent intelligence service. OVRA and military intelligence are two main espionage organizations and they are old concurrents. As part of the internal security system, OVRA has the purpose of fighting anti-regime crimes: it operates against underground politicians, political criminals, dissidents, anti-fascists organizations and terrorists, and protects the Duce and most important Italian political elite members. The Directorate General of Public Security operates the Republican Police Corps (it: "Corpo di Polizia Repubblicana", C.P.R.), which is the militarized police force of the Italian law enforcement system. The Corps has several branches, although they are grouped in two main divisions, i.e. the Division of Criminal Police, which fights against serious organized crime and has a strong analytic, criminologist and intellectual base, and which controls also the Central Investigations Service, which in turn fights against the most dangerous and harmful criminal cases, and the "usual police", whose purpose is to protect the society from unserious crimes. Economy Italy has a Corporatist economy characterized by low unemployment rates. Fascist Corporatism is a top-down model of state control over the economy. After World War II, Italy was rapidly transformed from an agriculture based economy into one of the world's most industrialized nations and a leading country in world trade and exports. It is a developed country. The country is well known for its industrious and competitive agricultural sector (Italy is the world's largest wine producer), and for its creative and high-quality automobile, industrial, appliance and fashion design. Fascist economic corporatism involves management of sectors of the economy by government or privately controlled enterprises. Each Trade Union or employer Corporation represents its professional concerns, especially by negotiation of labour contracts and the like. This method results in harmony amongst social classes. The economy is collectively managed by employers, workers and state officials by formal mechanisms at the national level. Corporatism incorporates every divergent interest into the State organically. When brought within the orbit of the State, Fascism recognizes the real needs which gave rise to socialism and trade unionism, giving them due weight in the guild or corporative system in which divergent interests are coordinated and harmonized in the unity of the State. The State is not simply a mechanism which limits the sphere of the supposed liberties of the individual. Far from crushing the individual, the Fascist State multiplies his energies, just as in a regiment a soldier is not diminished but multiplied by the number of his fellow soldiers. The Italian ecomnomy is dominated by three major public bodies, which enact the Government policies: the IRI (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale, Institute for Industrial Reconstruction), the IMI (Istituto Mobiliare Italiano, Italian Banking Institute) and the BPI (Banca Pubblica per l'Investimento, Investment Public Bank, for small and medium enterprises). Through the State econmomic presence, the Government is able to direct economy toward desired objectives. However, the State owned enterprises could also be used as a power-exchange or as a sort of hospice type of charity, although the official task is to operate in a way informed on economic criteria. Institute for Industrial Reconstruction The IRI was founded in 1930 during the early stages of Great Depression. The Regime, worried about a credit crunch, started to take over banks' stakes in large and strategic industrial companies (such as steel, weapons and chemicals) and at the same time to inject capitals in failing businesses. IRI has been operated throughout the decades, owning and operating a growing number of companies. After the major turning point of second half of the forties IRI retained the structure it had under Monarchy. Only after 1955, the mission of IRI was better defined: the IRI Director General Oscar Sinigaglia, who in order to increase the production capacity formed an alliance with private industry, thus creating a new role for the IRI, which was and still is to develop large industrial base and infrastructure to the country. In many companies, the capital of the group is mixed, partly public and partly private. Many companies in the IRI group remain publicly traded and bonds issued by the Institute to fund their companies are subscribed by investors en masse. Through IRI, companies are used for social purposes and the state has to bear the costs and inefficiencies generated by investments: this means that IRI does not have to follow a commercial manner in its activities, but invest according to those who are the interests of community. The IRI is a National Agency, which responds formally to the Ministry of State Holdings. At the head of IRI is a President, assisted by an Advisory Board, both appointed among the corporatist National Fascist Party economists. If the President of IRI is always an expression of the centrist PNF, the vice-presidency is often covered by members of the leftist wings of the Party. The appointment of top banking, financial and major companies are decided by the President. With the Republic, IRI became one of the largest state conglomerates in the world, owning many diverse businesses such as the highway system, the flag carrier Alitalia and many banks, steel, food, chemicals and telecom companies. In 2010, IRI is a group of about 1,200 companies with more than 520,000 employees: it is the Italian and European largest industrial company. Music The music of Italy ranges across a broad spectrum of opera and instrumental classical music and a body of popular music. Music has traditionally been one of the cultural markers of Italian national and ethnic identity and holds an important position in society and in politics. Instrumental and vocal classical music is an iconic part of Italian identity, spanning experimental art music and international fusions to symphonic music and opera. Opera is integral to Italian musical culture, and has become a major segment of popular music. The Neapolitan song and the singer-songwriter traditions are also popular domestic styles that form an important part of the Italian music. Italian folk music is the cornerstone of the country's musical heritage, and spans a diverse array of regional styles, instruments and dances. Italian music has kept elements of the many peoples that have historically dominated or influenced the country. The country's historical contributions to music are an important part of national pride. The recent history of Italy includes the development of an opera tradition that has spread throughout the world; prior to the development of Italian identity or a unified Italian state, the Italian peninsula contributed to important innovations in music including the development of musical notation and Gregorian chant. Cultural, political and social issues are often also expressed through music in Italy. Allegiance to music is integrally woven into the social identity of Italians but no single style has been considered a characteristic "national style". Most folk musics are localized, and unique to a region or city. Italy's classical legacy, however, is an important point of the country's identity, particularly opera. Despite the growing industrialization that accelerated during the 20th and 21st century and caused Italian society gradually moving from an agricultural base to an urban and industrial centre, Italy has a wide array of major initiatives to preserve traditional musics. Music and politics have been intertwined for centuries in Italy. Just as many works of art in the Italian Renaissance were commissioned by royalty and the Roman Catholic Church, much music was likewise composed on the basis of such commissions—incidental court music, music for coronations, for the birth of a royal heir, royal marches, and other occasions. Composers who strayed ran certain risks. Music also played a role in the unification of the peninsula. During this period, some leaders attempted to use music to forge a unifying cultural identity. One example is the chorus "Va Pensiero" from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco. Even Verdi's name was a synonym for Italian unity because "Verdi" could be read as an acronym for Vittorio Emanuele Re d'Italia, Victor Emanuel King of Italy, the Savoy monarch who eventually became Victor Emanuel II, the first king of united Italy. Thus, "Viva Verdi" was a cry for patriots and often appeared in graffiti in cities part of Austro-Hungarian territory. Since the beginning of the Fascist Era, Government protection and guidance of music has occurred, though not on a systematic basis. Prominent examples include the famous anti-modernist manifesto of 1932. The music media often criticize music politically radical or insufficiently Italian. Political instruction influences the development of classical music, although censorship is deliberatelly kept not systematic. More recently, in the later part of the 20th century, especially in the 1970s and beyond, music became further enmeshed in Italian politics. A roots revival stimulated interest in folk traditions, led by writers, collectors and traditional performers. Among the best-known Italian musicians of the last few decades are Domenico Modugno, Mia Martini, Michele di Fiò and, more recently, Vasco Rossi, Gianna Nannini and international superstar Andrea Bocelli. Musicians who compose and sing their own songs are called cantautori (singer-songwriters). Their compositions typically focus on topics of social relevance: this wave began in the 1960s with musicians like Leo Valeriano, Giorgio Gaber, Gino Paoli, Pino Caruso and Luigi Tenco. Social, political, psychological and intellectual themes, mainly in the wake of Gaber and Valeriano's work, became even more predominant in 1970s through authors and bands such as "Amici del Vento", Pino Caruso, Francesco De Gregori, Francesco Guccini (esteemed winner of Lictorials of Music), Edoardo Bennato and Roberto Vecchioni, famed Nitzschean intellectual. Lucio Battisti, from the late 1960s until mid-1990s, merged the Italian music with the British rock and pop despite the heavy critical opposition of the PNF, while Angelo Branduardi and Franco Battiato pursued careers more oriented to both the tradition of Italian music and the Immanent Tradition. Category:Italy (Social Republic)